Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = The Big Eraser Scores Again
The rivalry game is the only Sun Devil game I watch where I have butterflies in my stomach throughout the game and yesterday's game was no exception...
It all began in 1982, when we could have gone to our first Rose Bowl under Daryl Rogers but lost to the Cats in Tucson, in an upset of epic proportions for me and most other ASU fans at the time...
I was working in Tucson, at the time, and it was awful to have to put up with all the crap my AU friends threw at me due to that loss, so it really became personal to me then, more than ever...
We finally made it to the Rose Bowl a couple of years later but it's been awhile since we've been back there, as we all know...
That's what has been so disappointing with the upside this team had in terms of talent and experience entering the season, along with a piss poor conference, where we beat only one team with a winning record (UCLA)...
Stanford went 3-9 and 2-7, Wash went 4-8 and 3-6, USC went 4-7 and 3-5 (its worst record in three decades), Colorado went 4-8 and 3-6, and AU went 1-11 and 1-8 but we did beat the Bruins who went 8-4 and 6-3 or the same as us...
Even though we were favored to win in each game, we lost to Wazzu that went 7-5 and 6-3, Oregon St that went 7-5 and 5-4 and Utah that went 9-3 and 8-1 (the Utes ended up being favored by game time, by a point or two, it should be noted)...
That's a pretty sobering reality as we look forward to next season and beyond when we are going to lose a lot of talent, don't yet have a decent recruiting class with which to build on, and will be looking at all kinds of changes to the staff, it looks like, as a result of the ongoing NCAA investigation into recruiting violations that probably go all the way to the top man of the program...
It's clear that Herm will be here for at least another season but whether he can keep the program from backsliding to a pretty low level is anyone's guess at this time...
Will the PAC be as lousy as it was this past season or much more competitive next year when some programs will have new coaches, and who will remain on our staff and roster moving forward..??
Will we be able to beat some teams with winning records..??
Herm has said it is hard to win games but is it that hard to beat teams you are favored to win but don't..??
As Greg Hansen pointed out in yesterday's Daily Star regarding whether Herm fits the "bad coach" category he say this...
"He's not a bad coach but he hasn't been any more effective than his predecessors Todd Graham, Dennis Erickson and Dirk Koetter and Herm's ballyhooed 'pro-model" system has splintered and the Devils are left to wonder what went wrong again at Always Something University"...(my paraphrasing)...
"It all goes back to his initial staff in 2018 that went bust as only two assistants (AP and SS) remain on the staff"...
"John Simon went Memphis and is now out of coaching"...
"Former OC Rob Likens is a receivers coach at Miami"...
"Tony White is coaching at Syracuse where they may make a coaching change soon"...
"Charlie Fisher and Dave Christensen have retired"...
"Donnie Yantis is coaching at a high school in Denver"...
Additionally, "Derek Hagan is now coaching at Portland State and Kevin Mawae is back to the NFL"...
"Only Danny Gonzales and Shaun Nua left for better jobs"...
Hansen concludes: "Sounds a lot like the end of the Rich Rod and Kevin Sumlin years at AU"...
So, does Hansen make some valid points or not..??
I guess time will tell whether Herm can overcome all of these challenges that now confront our Sun Devil football program but, at least, the Big Eraser has given us a good feeling this morning and, perhaps, some hope for the future...
BTW, Hansen predicted that the Sun Devils would beat the Cats yesterday by a score of 42-13 which was pretty close to what the actual score turned out to be...
All I know is that my stomach didn't stop churning until Jack Jones returned that Plummer pass 87 yards for the clinching TD in the closing minutes of the game...
Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks and months but at the very least we now have beaten the Cats five years in a row...
But is the Big Eraser victory enough for a program that hasn't elevated itself in a long, long while..??
Again, time will tell and it is sure a hell of a lot better than the alternative...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = The Big Eraser Scores Again
The rivalry game is the only Sun Devil game I watch where I have butterflies in my stomach throughout the game and yesterday's game was no exception...
It all began in 1982, when we could have gone to our first Rose Bowl under Daryl Rogers but lost to the Cats in Tucson, in an upset of epic proportions for me and most other ASU fans at the time...
I was working in Tucson, at the time, and it was awful to have to put up with all the crap my AU friends threw at me due to that loss, so it really became personal to me then, more than ever...
We finally made it to the Rose Bowl a couple of years later but it's been awhile since we've been back there, as we all know...
That's what has been so disappointing with the upside this team had in terms of talent and experience entering the season, along with a piss poor conference, where we beat only one team with a winning record (UCLA)...
Stanford went 3-9 and 2-7, Wash went 4-8 and 3-6, USC went 4-7 and 3-5 (its worst record in three decades), Colorado went 4-8 and 3-6, and AU went 1-11 and 1-8 but we did beat the Bruins who went 8-4 and 6-3 or the same as us...
Even though we were favored to win in each game, we lost to Wazzu that went 7-5 and 6-3, Oregon St that went 7-5 and 5-4 and Utah that went 9-3 and 8-1 (the Utes ended up being favored by game time, by a point or two, it should be noted)...
That's a pretty sobering reality as we look forward to next season and beyond when we are going to lose a lot of talent, don't yet have a decent recruiting class with which to build on, and will be looking at all kinds of changes to the staff, it looks like, as a result of the ongoing NCAA investigation into recruiting violations that probably go all the way to the top man of the program...
It's clear that Herm will be here for at least another season but whether he can keep the program from backsliding to a pretty low level is anyone's guess at this time...
Will the PAC be as lousy as it was this past season or much more competitive next year when some programs will have new coaches, and who will remain on our staff and roster moving forward..??
Will we be able to beat some teams with winning records..??
Herm has said it is hard to win games but is it that hard to beat teams you are favored to win but don't..??
As Greg Hansen pointed out in yesterday's Daily Star regarding whether Herm fits the "bad coach" category he say this...
"He's not a bad coach but he hasn't been any more effective than his predecessors Todd Graham, Dennis Erickson and Dirk Koetter and Herm's ballyhooed 'pro-model" system has splintered and the Devils are left to wonder what went wrong again at Always Something University"...(my paraphrasing)...
"It all goes back to his initial staff in 2018 that went bust as only two assistants (AP and SS) remain on the staff"...
"John Simon went Memphis and is now out of coaching"...
"Former OC Rob Likens is a receivers coach at Miami"...
"Tony White is coaching at Syracuse where they may make a coaching change soon"...
"Charlie Fisher and Dave Christensen have retired"...
"Donnie Yantis is coaching at a high school in Denver"...
Additionally, "Derek Hagan is now coaching at Portland State and Kevin Mawae is back to the NFL"...
"Only Danny Gonzales and Shaun Nua left for better jobs"...
Hansen concludes: "Sounds a lot like the end of the Rich Rod and Kevin Sumlin years at AU"...
So, does Hansen make some valid points or not..??
I guess time will tell whether Herm can overcome all of these challenges that now confront our Sun Devil football program but, at least, the Big Eraser has given us a good feeling this morning and, perhaps, some hope for the future...
BTW, Hansen predicted that the Sun Devils would beat the Cats yesterday by a score of 42-13 which was pretty close to what the actual score turned out to be...
All I know is that my stomach didn't stop churning until Jack Jones returned that Plummer pass 87 yards for the clinching TD in the closing minutes of the game...
Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks and months but at the very least we now have beaten the Cats five years in a row...
But is the Big Eraser victory enough for a program that hasn't elevated itself in a long, long while..??
Again, time will tell and it is sure a hell of a lot better than the alternative...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
